Black Freedom Struggle in the United States:

The Atlanta Massacre

News article: Report on the Atlanta Massacre written by a black man who witnessed the events, 1906

Document 78: December 19, 1934 Letter with attachment

Documents from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Library: Request for suitable date for delegation to meet with president in Washington, D.C., to discuss Wagner- Costigan antilynching bill and to present him with a memorial urging federal action against lynching, 1934

Document 126: January 2, 1936 Memorandum with attachments

Documents from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Library: Provides statement on issues of concern to African Americans, including lynching problem; discrimination in relief and public works, the postal service, and civil service; white-only primaries; and discrimination in the army and navy, 1936

Document 219: February 18, 1938 Letter with attachment

Documents from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Library: Comments on and arguments in favor of NAACP proposal to permit Senator Robert Wagner to suspend debate on the antilynching bill and to set a day certain to resume debate on the bill in April, in light of the bill’s filibuster and danger that the bill would be dead if displaced as unfinished business, 1938

This Business of Lynching

Text of pamphlet that provides an overview of the nationwide lynching problem, with listings by state, 1935

Wagner-Van Nuys Anti-Lynching Bill

Text of the Wagner-Van Nuys Anti-Lynching Bill: A Bill for the better assurance of the protection of persons from mob violence and lynching, 1937

Document 158: February 11, 1937 Letter with attachment

Documents from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Library: Progress in formulating an antilynching bill that will meet constitutional tests and transmits a Justice Department memorandum assessing the NAACP proposed antilynching bill, reviewing distinctions between the present bill and previous antilynching bills, and examining the constitutional basis for the statute, with a review of relevant case law, 1937